Foxconn Running at Full Capacity in Shenzhen

Foxconn Technology Group, the biggest assembler of Apple Inc. iPhones, said its  Chinese manufacturing site in Shenzhen returned to full operation on Monday after completing Covid-19 testing on all 17 million residents.

But while Shenzhen has returned to normal business, more new cases in Jilin, Shanghai and other cities have imposed tighter restrictions, highlighting the challenges that the country is still facing to contain the worst covid-19 outbreak in two years.

Along with the manufacturing facility at Shenzhen, public transportation and nearly all other factories and businesses resumed back to normal operations on Monday. The restrictions came at ease even after 33 new local infection cases were reported a day earlier.

The move follows last week's speech by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Politburo Standing Committee, admitting that the country's zero-corona strategy would be very costly. While policies have helped China largely free from the virus over the past two years, lockdowns, factory closures and other measures pose a threat to global supply chains and economic growth.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong is also planning to ease the covid restrictions, along with halving quarantine for some inbound travellers to seven days and removing a ban on flights from countries including US Authorities also suspended a plan to follow the mainland protocol and conduct universal testing instead.